No one in the world had expected the first match of the Heaven and Earth Grand Tournament to escalate to this point.
A mere Ninth-grade high-martial world had displayed resilience and miracles that stunned every realm.
In the team battle, every fighter had fought without fear of death. Overlord had crushed his foe with overwhelming dominance. Tang Yimo had burned everything, even his lifespan, in his desperate resolve to kill the enemy.
Every heart trembled.
One had to admit—this was no ordinary Ninth-grade world.
Perhaps it could no longer even be called Ninth-grade.
While its overall strength might not yet reach that level, in terms of individual combat power, the Five Phoenixes seemed inferior to no top Seventh-grade world.
Of course, that was only the initial thought of the spectators.
They had assumed the Five Phoenixes’ Saint Lord Lu was merely on par with the Star-Moon Saint Lord.
But when they saw the Upper Realm envoy—who had nearly stepped out of the ancient warship—forced back inside…
They finally understood.
They had been wrong.
Utterly wrong!
Saint Lord Lu had always been a hidden monster!
BOOM!
Terrifying pressure spread endlessly. The entire cyan-brick plaza seemed obliterated.
The ancient warship groaned. Its ancient patterns trembled.
A massive chessboard spanned the sky above the Five Phoenixes like a colossal spiderweb, ensnaring heaven and earth.
Every expert aboard the warships beyond the Five Phoenixes felt their breath catch.
Then—
The world held its breath. Only shock remained.
The Upper Realm envoy… had been suppressed?!
The mysterious, lazy, and noble envoy who had always remained within the ancient warship—suppressed by raw force!
One piece crushed several golden-body-flower Transcendents.
Another piece suppressed the Upper Realm envoy inside the warship!
Was the envoy weak?
Absolutely not!
Even restricted by the Void Heaven’s laws, the envoy was no supreme being.
But to represent the Upper Realm in the lower worlds…
How could he be weak?
He was the face of the Upper Realm!
Dead silence!
Whether from the Five Phoenixes or beyond—utter silence.
Saint Master Tuoba and Saint Master Qingling were speechless.
Venerable Joyous pressed his palms together, face twisted as if in pain.
Saint Lord Lu… what a ruthless man!
The Great Venerable of the Little Thunderclap Buddha World blazed with light—shock and disbelief.
He could not believe Lu Fan dared to strike at the Upper Realm envoy!
The attendant fighting Lu Jiulian faltered.
He had thought it was over.
Once the envoy emerged, he could crush everything with world-ending might.
But reality had slapped him hard.
The envoy… never left the warship!
He had nearly stepped out—only to be forcibly shoved back by Saint Lord Lu.
Utter humiliation!
BOOM!
An explosion!
One attendant’s body burst under the “thousandfold spirit pressure”!
Like a fuse—or contagion.
The first golden-body-flower attendant exploded.
Then another… and another…
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Crimson and golden blood mist bloomed across the plaza.
The entire blood-colored battlefield quaked.
The explosion of golden-body-flower Transcendents—how terrifying?!
Hiss…
Gasps of horror rose from every warship and spirit vessel beyond the Five Phoenixes.
Each explosion marked the death of an Upper Realm attendant!
How dare Saint Lord Lu of the Five Phoenixes do something so suicidal?!
This was openly defying the Upper Realm!
The attendant fighting Lu Jiulian trembled.
What a horrifying scene.
His familiar comrades exploding one by one—would he be next?!
“You dare!”
ROAR!
A heaven-shaking roar erupted from the warship, shaking away all dust from the battlefield.
The Upper Realm envoy within was furious.
Utterly enraged.
Who wouldn’t be?
He represented the Upper Realm—its dignity and might.
He had finally been about to emerge.
Only to be slapped back inside.
Like squatting to relieve oneself, finally feeling relief—then someone shoving your head down, forcing you to sit back in it.
Utterly humiliating!
And the opponent hadn’t even shown himself.
A gentle laugh drifted across the heavens.
Like a refined young man seated in a high tower, casually chatting with the world below.
“You bully my Five Phoenixes—so I bully you. What of it?”
Lu Fan’s voice rang across the blood-colored battlefield like thunder from a clear sky.
“Those who offend the Five Phoenixes—what is to be done?”
The calm voice carried boundless confidence.
On the blood-colored battlefield—
Every Five Phoenixes cultivator felt like firecrackers ready to explode!
Scalps tingling, every pore flaring.
Excitement—uncontrollable joy!
Overlord was domineering.
But…
Young Master Lu was more domineering!
“What is to be done?”
The voice asked again, as if questioning every soul in the Five Phoenixes.
“Fight them! Kill them!”
Ning Zhao, peerless and ethereal in her flowing white dress, shouted with iron resolve.
Though her voice was not loud, it rang clear and confident.
As Lu Fan’s maid, she would support her Young Master—never let him be embarrassed.
Her cry ignited a storm!
The new emperor Tantai He leapt from his chair, face red as blood, fists clenched.
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“Fight them! Kill them!”
He roared.
The cry spread.
Every Five Phoenixes cultivator’s eyes turned red, chests heaving with surging qi!
“Those who bully the Five Phoenixes—fight them! Kill them!”
Jiang Li stood like an iron-blooded general, voice resounding.
Then—
The hundred thousand troops rose as one, armor clashing, blood qi soaring.
With one heart and one mind, they roared:
“Fight!”
“Kill!”
Cultivators of the Five Phoenixes feared neither death nor battle!
BOOM!
The laws of the Void Heaven seemed to stir, trembling violently.
Ni Yu, black pot on her back, stuffed pills into her mouth with excitement!
Young Master… so domineering!
But this was the Young Master she knew!
Ni Chunqiu’s red robes flared as she shouted until her voice grew hoarse, cheeks flushed, eyes dreamy.
Under the united will of a hundred thousand troops and countless cultivators—
Their roar seemed to shatter the heavens.
Fierce aura surged, shaking mountains and rivers.
Venerable Joyous’ scalp tingled as he chanted “Amitabha” nonstop to calm his fear.
Tuoba and Qingling trembled uncontrollably!
“Fight them! Kill them!”
Overlord carried Tang Yimo out of the plaza, setting him down on the blood-colored ground.
He turned, eyes blazing like a ferocious beast of the starry skies!
His roar shook the void.
BOOM!
Above the Five Phoenixes’ skies—
Dead silence.
Countless eyes from warships, spirit vessels, and beast backs looked down.
The towering figures of Ascended Immortals.
They seemed stunned.
The auras they had projected weakened significantly.
Below—
Qi Liujia, coughing blood that stained his beard red, seized the chance and retreated swiftly.
His eyes blazed with light.
Seeing the united Five Phoenixes, he wiped the blood from his lips, eyes filled with relief and excitement.
“Hahaha…”
A refined young man’s laughter rang through heaven and earth.
Perhaps laughing at the Five Phoenixes’ unity.
Or at the Upper Realm envoy’s humiliation.
The shattered primordial spirits of the attendants shot skyward in terror.
But…
The sound of another piece falling rang out.
The blood-colored battlefield cracked open. Abysses appeared.
The terrified spirits were dragged downward by terrifying force.
Hummm…
A city emerged.
Like the ghostly capital of hell—eerie and sinister.
Countless yin soldiers stood with rusted spears and halberds, gazing outward.
The primordial spirits were pulled in, shredded, annihilated…
BOOM!
They exploded into pure energy, scattering across the Five Phoenixes’ heavens and earth.
“Insolence!”
“You dare insult the Upper Realm?!”
The ancient warship trembled violently, as if about to crack.
Finally—
A hand reached out from the cabin door.
Vast aura spread.
The shaking voice struck the soul, suppressing even the united roar of the Five Phoenixes.
…
Lake of Origin, Heart Island.
Lu Fan watched the system prompt flash by and smiled.
He ignored it for now.
The breeze could not calm his surging blood.
His hair fell across the Spirit Pressure Chessboard.
Faces of the Five Phoenixes flashed across it—excitement, joy, pride.
Pride in being part of the Five Phoenixes.
Lu Fan smiled.
Since you take pride in me—how could I disappoint you?
He exhaled.
A spark of light bloomed in his eyes.
A sense of belonging.
This unity of the Five Phoenixes had touched him. A sense of belonging was forming.
Since reincarnating into the Five Phoenixes, Lu Fan had always been a spectator.
Even after building its current cultivation golden age…
He had always felt a barrier, an inability to fully integrate.
But today…
That was changing.
…
Ancient Tomb.
Lu Changkong, experimenting with divine herb cultivation, suddenly felt something.
He looked up, gazing at the blood-red sky beyond the tomb, eyes gleaming.
Lu Fan’s transformation seemed to affect him through blood.
“This is my son.”
Lu Changkong laughed.
His laughter was free and proud.
In the distance—
Bu Nanxing was horrified.
He hesitated. The Five Phoenixes seemed in grave danger—surrounded by enemies, on the verge of annihilation.
Yet…
The unity of its people made him waver.
Lu Changkong’s laughter snapped him out of it. Gritting his teeth, Bu Nanxing decided not to run.
“Little Bu! Bring the last divine herb!”
Lu Changkong’s joyful shout rang out.
Bu Nanxing’s lips twitched. He glanced at Lu Changkong—who had spent a century obsessed with cultivating a divine herb—and thought the man was mad.
Divine herbs grew naturally through heaven and earth.
How could they be artificially cultivated?!
This was a waste of time!
But Bu Nanxing didn’t dare defy him—he feared being poisoned accidentally.
To survive safely, he would obey the old man.
“Coming!”
Bu Nanxing shouted.
Spiritual qi surged as he carefully wrapped the last divine herb—soil and all.
Then he shot forward.
“The last one—Vermilion Cloud Fruit.”
“Success or failure—here it is.”
Lu Changkong’s eyes lit up as he laughed.
He opened his thick stack of bamboo slips, recording in the Hundred Herb Manual.
Then he began fusing the two divine herbs.
Beside the Vermilion Cloud Fruit was a withered, lifeless weed—no divine aura at all.
Bu Nanxing’s lips twitched harder…
This thing becoming a divine herb?
Like a toad turning into a swan!
Impossible!
It had absorbed over a thousand spirit herbs from the tomb…
But could a mishmash become divine?!
BOOM!
Suddenly—
Bu Nanxing froze.
A fragrance wafted past his nose.
The withered weed began to tremble, bursting with dense life force.
Lu Changkong excitedly dripped juice containing the power of time onto it.
The life force boiled like soda water.
The weed straightened like a blade. Its energy transformed wildly.
Overwhelming life force surged forth.
Bu Nanxing nearly choked!
“This…”
He staggered back, trembling.
“This actually… became a divine herb?!”
Lu Changkong laughed heartily.
As the overwhelming life force spread through the tomb…
Deep within—
Ghostly flames ignited.
The ever-burning lamp trembled.
Each flicker was like a powerful heartbeat.
As if a will was awakening.
“Little Bu, catch it! The divine herb… is running!”
Lu Changkong suddenly shouted.
Bu Nanxing’s body shook.
Uncle!
Don’t get me killed!
He truly feared grabbing a divine herb and being killed by it!
Throughout history, countless beings had died for divine herbs!
Divine herbs were synonymous with danger!
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The herb, bursting with infinite life force, shot out as a streak of green light.
Bu Nanxing couldn’t hold back. His aura erupted—Grand Ability Realm power fully revealed.
He lunged to seize it.
But…
A terrifying suction force erupted from the tomb’s depths.
“Damn it!”
“I knew it!”
Bu Nanxing’s face changed. He nearly cried.
He knew—getting near a divine herb was dangerous.
He just wanted to survive quietly, but danger always found him!
The divine herb was sucked away.
Deep in the tomb—
A hand reached out.
What a hand!
Pale as snow, bloodless—like carved from ice.
Just one hand evoked visions of mountains of corpses and seas of blood, worlds destroyed.
Draped in a blood-red sleeve like a burial shroud, dripping crimson.
It seized the divine herb.
The herb’s overwhelming life force struggled, but was held fast.
“Divine herb…”
A faint fluctuation spread—a soul-level ripple.
Bu Nanxing didn’t dare breathe. His heart nearly stopped.
Lu Changkong narrowed his eyes, hair whipping wildly.
“Eight-star divine herb… Nine stars exist, but an eight-star in the Void Heaven is already extraordinary.”
“To think you could cultivate one with human hands…”
“Sir, your talent is unmatched. Gu is convinced.”
“May I borrow this divine herb?”
The voice asked Lu Changkong.
Gu?
Blood-Robed General, Gu Mangran?!
The legendary killer who had drenched the Void in the blood of the Eight Heavens’ coalition?!
The infamous monster?!
Bu Nanxing swallowed hard, nearly screaming, and clamped his hands over his mouth.
Lu Changkong was stunned.
Then, in his simple farmer’s robes, he smiled and stroked his beard.
“You may.”
“But…”
Lu Changkong’s eyes gleamed.
“Speak freely, sir.”
The voice replied.
Lu Changkong laughed, pointing at the blood-red sky.
“Someone wants to kill my son. If you act, kill all who stand against him.”
Bu Nanxing felt his heart stop.
Uncle is still Uncle…
So domineering?
Those on the blood-colored battlefield—who were they?
From the Eighth, Seventh, and Sixth Heavens—many high-martial worlds, even Sixth and Fifth-grade, plus the Upper Realm envoy!
You say kill, and they die?!
“Saint Lord Lu can handle himself.”
The pale, blood-robed hand’s owner spoke.
Lu Changkong smiled.
“As a father, I just want to help my son. Make it easier for him.”
The owner of the hand sighed regretfully.
“Sir, killing everyone would have dire consequences. Could we… only kill the Upper Realm envoy?”
The voice asked.
Lu Changkong considered, then nodded reluctantly. “Fine.”
The pale hand in blood robes took the divine herb and retreated into the tomb’s depths.
“Thank you, sir.”
Bu Nanxing collapsed to the ground.
He stared dumbly at Lu Changkong.
So…
This old man who nearly poisoned him to death…
Was the father of Saint Lord Lu—the one who crushed Transcendents with chess pieces and dominated the world?!
…
Blood-colored battlefield.
Terrifying rumbles shook the earth.
Countless gazes fell.
From the warships, spirit vessels, and beast backs beyond the Five Phoenixes—Ascended Immortal experts.
The Upper Realm envoy within the ancient warship was about to emerge.
The representative of the Upper Realm’s will was finally appearing.
The previous suppression by Lu Fan’s chess piece had been an anomaly.
No one believed Saint Lord Lu could truly rival the envoy.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Ascended Immortal wills erupted, as if to welcome the envoy.
Or perhaps to seize the greatest profit in the coming chaos.
At the very least—capture Tang Yimo.
The attendant fighting Lu Jiulian trembled.
Lu Jiulian floated aside, frowning calmly at the ancient warship.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
With the warship at the center, the ground cracked inch by inch.
White robes fluttered like an immortal descending to the mortal world.
The warship’s cabin was like a gate to immortality.
An immortal emerged!
Powerful aura spread.
BOOM!
In the Void Heaven, law-blades slashed down, trying to carve out world-shaking might!
From the ancient warship—
A figure appeared. White robes straight, face shrouded in distorting light.
Hands behind his back, fury-born pressure made every soul in the Five Phoenixes struggle to breathe.
The immortal stepped forward, each step shaking the Nine Heavens.
Within the distorting light, his eyes were sharp as swords.
He stared at the Five Phoenixes as if seeing through everything.
“You broke the rules, killed my attendants, disrespected the Upper Realm!”
“Your crimes deserve the Ninth Hell!”
“Saint Lord of the Five Phoenixes—come forth and confess!”
His words fell.
The entire Five Phoenixes seemed ready to shatter under the pressure.
Lake of Origin.
Lu Fan looked up, smile fading.
Killing intent filled his eyes.
“Immortal?”
He sneered.
His hand pressed the armrest.
Phoenix Feather Swords shot skyward.
Nine swords stacked above his head, forming the complete Phoenix Feather Sword.
But just as he prepared to flick the armrest—
His mind stirred.
BOOM!
Across the Five Phoenixes continent—
As if a terrifying beast awakened.
The vast sea churned, raising heaven-shaking waves.
In the Void Heaven, law-blades froze mid-fall…
The ancient tomb’s weathered doors slowly opened.
A skeletal daoist in tattered robes, emaciated as if about to fall apart, staggered out.
Rusted sword at his waist.
Ghostly flames danced in his empty sockets.
He raised his head.
The skeleton grinned.
BOOM!
The vast sea rippled.
The daoist raised his sword and shot into the sky.
Blood-colored battlefield.
The immortal who had emerged from the ancient warship was still condemning the heavens, demanding Lu Fan come forth to confess.
But his voice suddenly cut off.
Because…
A blinding sword light tore across the battlefield.
A skeletal old daoist in tattered robes, wielding a rusted sword, charged forth!
BOOM!
Countless laws seemed to transform into sword light.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Laws became swords—all returning to one.
Converging on the rusted sword in the old daoist’s hand.
“With the General’s command—I come to slay you.”
The old daoist spoke.
PFFT!
His sword swept across.
So fast the Upper Realm immortal still condemning Lu Fan had no time to react.
His head, shrouded in radiant light, was severed.
The sword cut through both flesh and primordial spirit.
One strike.
The Upper Realm envoy who had finally emerged from the ancient warship…
Died.
Died so tragically!
Above the Five Phoenixes’ skies—
Ascended Immortals who had stepped half out from warships, spirit vessels, and beast backs—
Felt their hair stand on end and instantly retracted their steps.
“Myriad Swords Return to One! Under the Blood-Robed General… the Sword King!”
“How dare the Blood-Robed General so brazenly kill the Upper Realm envoy?!”
“Catastrophe! True catastrophe!”
Ascended Immortals cried out, on the verge of madness.
Many turned and fled.
That ancient killing god had awakened—they wouldn’t survive a single meal!
They had imagined countless outcomes—even Saint Lord Lu matching the envoy blow for blow.
But never…
The envoy dying so pathetically!
As the envoy perished—
The hovering Dao Derivation Mirror trembled violently.
Suddenly—
A gentle breeze.
A flash of silver.
Beside the trembling mirror, a white-robed youth in a wheelchair appeared.
He reached out and gently grasped the mirror.
The trembling stopped.
The mirror changed hands.
The youth smiled warmly, like fine jade.
He toyed with the Dao Derivation Mirror, looking at the various factions with enthusiastic hospitality.
“Everyone, the Heaven and Earth Grand Tournament isn’t over yet. No need to rush off.”
